It All Started with a Cat
by White Phantom
Summary: When an assassin is caught unprepared by the very hero she's supposed to kill, a simple lie leads into an awkward adventure. Rated M for language. Last chapter is up.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. _

_A/N: I am an OoT fan, so this will be following that story line to some degree. I probably won't be keeping most cannon characters IC, just saying._

...-...

Brii stared at the young man with a growing look of incredulity. Could he really be that stupid? When Ganondorf had sent her off to kill the Hero of Time, she'd spent days going over different stories she'd use or different ways she might sabotage his journey. She'd thought of intricate lies to lull him into a sense of security, debated which poisons would probably have the best effects, and examined her map over and over for alcoves she could lure him into.

She'd been so intently inspecting her map near the drawbridge to Hyrule's capital that she'd been rather annoyed to have a strange light flicker over her parchment. When she'd looked up, she'd frozen and prayed to any goddess who might listen that the green tuniced, blonde haired, blue eyed man smiling in front of her wasn't the guy she was supposed to be assassinating. She wasn't ready.

When he'd seen her look of horror, his smile had slipped into an expression of sickeningly sweet concern and he'd asked what was wrong.

Her mind had blanked. She needed the bastard dead and she couldn't remember a single one of her lies. As she'd fish mouthed, Link had sat down beside her and inspected her map, noticing that she'd circled a few spots. He tapped the nearest one. "What's there?"

"My cat."

It was the stupidest thing she could have said and she hated herself for it. However, Link had merely furrowed his brow and looked at her. "Your cat?"

"I lost him," she'd whispered, wondering if he could tell she was an assassin just by looking at her. Surely he'd had to deal with a few people already. However, lame as her story was, she figured she would have to run with it. Perhaps if she spoke fast enough, she could salvage the situation. "My family...we were moving. I didn't get to bring my cat with me...and my brother brought it instead. Well, he was supposed to." She floundered for a moment, almost wishing the hero would just draw his sword and put her out of her misery. "It's...it's a long, boring, useless story. The end result is that my dipshit brother lost my cat in an alcove and I wasn't there so I don't know which one. I don't even know which paths he took and since I yelled at him, he won't tell me."

"I'll help you find your cat," Link replied almost instantly.

Brii had stared blankly at him. His response hadn't processed properly. There was just...no way he would just... What was going on? Was he screwing with her? She fought back a frown as she wondered if he underestimated her abilities.

"Um, don't you have to save the world?"

Link blinked at her in surprise, and then scratched the back of his neck. "Do I...know you?"

"No," she'd responded, instantly hating herself more. "I mean, there's a rumor about a hero coming to vanquish the evildoers. And they're saying he...well, that he looks like you. Green tunic..." she noticed the light again and frowned as she saw the wings protruding from it. "Fairy..." Oh goddesses, fairies could tell when someone was lying, couldn't they? "I mean, I shouldn't just assume things...I guess you probably get that a lot...?"

Link had merely shrugged. "Well, not to downplay my job, but I think I can find the time to help you get your cat."

A burst of wind had fluttered Brii's brown hair around her and she'd found herself unable to reign in her stupidity. "But...isn't saving the world more imminent?"

"Well, how's this..." Link offered, smiling brightly, "I'll help you find your cat, and you can give me that map."

"What?" Brii felt like she was walking into a trap, but she couldn't for the life of her tell what kind. "Why would you—"

"Fucking idiot lost our map," the fairy muttered in a high pitched, squeaky voice.

Brii looked from the ball of light to the hero. "What?"

Turning his attention toward something apparently very interesting on his shoes, Link shrugged. "It's a long, boring story, but—"

"No it's not, you're just retarded," the fairy interrupted. However, even as Link tried to protest, the small creature flitted down and perched on one of Brii's shoulders. "Look, we find your cat, you give us that map so that we can at least pretend that moron here is competent. Deal?"

Even as Link muttered something about someone named Navi—the fairy, Brii supposed—being rude in front of others, Brii had eyed the fairy and then shrugged, hesitating when the little orb let loose a string of curses as she was flung into the air by the motion. "It's a deal."

She could do this. She'd get Link into that grotto, get him up in a tree or something, and then kill him off. Perhaps it wouldn't be as hard to do as she'd originally thought.

Link hopped to his feet and offered her a hand as Navi fluttered through the air, pausing once to swirl around the map before heading off in the proper direction. As Brii took his help, she forced a smile and bit back a curse when Link asked her what her cat's name was.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own LoZ: OoT.

...-...

It had been almost four days since Brii had recruited her target to help her find her non-existent cat in hopes of luring him into a secluded area and killing him. As they'd traveled, she'd had to say that she probably could have killed him anywhere in Hyrule field, rather than searching for privacy. It hadn't really dawned on her until this point that trade between towns had all but stopped since Ganondorf's reign began.

While she figured she could probably kill him at any point, the hero proved to be a little...off. He constantly traveled with a weapon brandished, or at least in hand. Surprisingly, he kept his sword sheathed most of the time, instead cycling between a bow, a sling shot, and small deku seeds. Every now and then he'd drop one of the seeds and the sharp snap along with the blinding flash of light always startled Brii.

Navi merely called him an idiot after each blunder...when she wasn't using more colorful language. Honestly, Brii had never heard a fairy speak in such a manner and she had to wonder just where Link had found his.

Brii had tried reaching into her bags for poisons a few times, but every time she went for something, Link would suddenly be right there, asking her questions. He had to know there was no cat. He was screwing with her, but she couldn't tell why he'd let it go on like this. Why not just kill her? What if she was leading him to a trap? Well she was, but still.

"Do you...ever relax?" Brii asked as Link flipped his sling shot through the air and caught it.

"Huh?" Link paused and in a moment he'd pocketed the sling shot and was juggling those damned seeds again. "Oh, yeah. I'm always relaxed."

"Hence why he loses things," Navi hissed. The fairy seemed to prefer to hover around Brii rather than her charge. It made the assassin uneasy.

"But...you never just-" Brii's voice made a light squeak as Link dropped another nut and it temporarily blinded her. When she could see again, she thought she saw an amused expression on the hero's face for a split second. However, as she blinked to banish the aftershock of the light from her eyes, his face resumed its perpetual, innocent curiosity. He was so screwing with her. "You never just walk. There's always something in your hands."

"Yeah, well," Link shrugged. "Where I grew up, you had to be ready for anything...some of the kids there were real dicks. If you walked around empty handed, you'd wind up tied up naked to a small tree in front of the prettiest girl in town's house."

Brii stared at him blankly. "You...wait, what?"

"Hmm?" Link seemed to have already forgotten what he'd just said. Just as she considered demanding that he repeat himself, his mind wandered in a different direction. "Does your family own a horse?"

"Come again?"

"A horse. You know, something you ride on."

Brii frowned. Her real family was long dead and she hadn't really spent much time developing her fake one. Honestly, she'd hardly spent any time developing her cat. Link was oddly apathetic toward the creature he was heading off to save. Instead, he asked her about politics continuously. What was Ganondorf's main agenda? Had he raised taxes? Had he made new laws? Were any of them reasonable? Had Hyrule actually benefited his coming into power in any way?

Seeing as Brii didn't pay taxes and she only participated in politics to find potential clients, her answers had been wanting.

And now, after keeping her preoccupied with real matters for four days, he was suddenly moving on to personal? Brii shrugged. "No."

Link looked disappointed. "Ah, I see. I was going to offer to help your family out in any way you needed if I could get a horse."

"You...do know there's a ranch out here somewhere, right? Why not just buy one...?" Her voice trailed off as Link's good humor slipped for the first time and Navi cackled gleefully. "They wouldn't sell you one?"

Link scuffed his boots along the grass as he walked. "Uh, no. They wouldn't."

"Why not?" Brii would have expected the common folk to rally beneath their valiant hero, helping him in any way they could.

Even as Link tried to say it didn't really matter, Navi came to rest on Brii's head so that she could more comfortably tell her story. The fairy seemed to have issues flying and speaking at the same time. "Oh, it's precious really. Link saved them from Ganondorf's men and asked about a horse, but-"

"Navi, shut up," Link muttered, grabbing at the little ball of light. The fairy was too quick for him and in seconds she floated well above the duo in the air. He gave Brii a pleading look as though she might somehow control his bug. "It really doesn't matter..."

"Doesn't matter?" Navi's shrill voice squeaked with sadistic pleasure. "Dipshit here thought he'd be all smooth and flirt with the little thing taking care of the ranch in her father's absence. He got something alright, though it wasn't a horse."

Brii felt like she had to agree with Link. She didn't want to know anymore.

"Fucker!" Navi hissed as she narrowly dodged an arrow.

Link notched another one, seemingly forgetting that Brii was even there. "She was just about to give me the damned horse when you got in the way!"

"A fucking week of barely leaving her goddessdamned bed for anything other than a piss and you expect me to believe that bullshit?"

"You're just angry we didn't let you watch. You freak," Link snapped, letting another arrow fly.

Brii really wished she could un-hear that.

Link wasted another three arrows before finally shouldering his bow and beginning to haphazardly juggle his seeds again. "She was seriously considering giving Epona to me when you had to yell something about an engagement."

"My apologies. I just thought the little bitch deserved to know she was being used."

Brii slipped a vial of poison out of her bag whilst the two continued to bicker. How did she want to do this? He still had those seeds, though he was flinging a few at his fairy. As a few arched away and slammed into the ground a few yards off, they snapped and flashed. Perhaps she should wait until he had his slingshot out?

But then...she'd need to cut him to get the poison to work...or trick him into drinking it. Strange as he was, she didn't think he was that stupid. Honestly, she'd been so thrilled to have a chance to get her poisons that she'd just grabbed the first one she could reach. It wasn't one of her better ones and she was cursing herself for even bringing it along.

As she opened her bag and tried to switch the vial for another one, Link abruptly froze in his tracks and his long ears perked up. He turned over his shoulder to give Brii a hopeful smile, as though he expected her to somehow forget all that she'd just heard and he pointed ahead. "I think I see the alcove."

He didn't wait for her to respond before he took off running toward it. She had to pity him. It had to suck having such a bitchy fairy following him around everywhere. As Brii let him get a bit of a distance between them and reached to pull out a different poison, she felt a soft pressure on her shoulder and froze.

How had she already forgotten the damned fairy? When she was even thinking about the little monster?

"So...just a heads up, poison's not the way to go," Navi muttered, her voice reaching high notes that Brii hadn't known were possible by any creature.

As the assassin finished wincing, she turned to inspect the little ball of light, trying not to pale. "I'm sorry?"

"You're here to kill the little prick," Navi said, calmly. Her voice was lower now, almost to a normal tone. "I'm all for it. I hate Hyrule and I want to go home. If it wasn't for my community service, I wouldn't be here."

Brii stared at the light, wondering if it was joking.

The fairy hopped back into the air and bobbed twice. "The faster he dies, the sooner I fulfill my punishment and can go back to binge drinking and partying all night long."

"What did you do?" Brii asked. She'd catch the little bugger in a lie and then try to convince it that she wasn't really out to kill the hero.

"Sweetheart, don't change the subject," the fairy fluttered her wings a couple times to stay in the air near Brii's face. "Look. Mr. Hero spent seven years training in an alternate reality or something and while he was there some creepy old guy helped him build tolerances to most every poison. He's also really damned good with a sword, so you don't want to try to fight him in combat." Navi bobbed again and sighed. "And seeing that a story about a cat was the best you could do, I wouldn't count on your resourcefulness either."

Brii's eye twitched. "What's left then?"

"Know any magic?"


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I am having writer's disclaimer block, so this one will count for the rest of the chapters. If I owned the Zelda franchise, my world would be full of sunshinedust and rainbows. Alas, I do not and my life is left wanting in both categories.

...-...

Several weeks ago...

Brii stood in the foyer to Ganondorf's castle, mulling over why every dictator seemed to need to have pictures of themselves in their interior design. Was it really necessary? Were they afraid they'd forget what they looked like or something?

She heard a few curses screeched out behind her and turned to pale. Two giant hands were tossing a giant ball of water back and forth, half juggling it. As the orb flew through the air, a few tentacles lashed out at the hands. However, before they could hit, the hands became transparent and the water ball slammed into the ground, tentacles and all.

Brii's eye twitched as some of the water splashed across her boots, though her irritation was short lived as the water shivered and then slithered back to reform its sphere. Even as Brii considered that being able to do such things had to take an impressive control over magic, the hands had returned to the material world and gripped the orb again.

A deep rumbling laugh coming from nowhere and everywhere drowned out the curses from the liquid creature as it gave up fighting back and became the shadow fiend's play toy.

Brii took a few inconspicuous steps away from them, hoping that the creatures would be content to 'play' with each other and leave her be. Aside from those two, she'd seen a dragon circling overhead and heading off toward the mountains when she'd arrived and two rather unattractive old hags sat in a corner, braiding each others' hair and giggling at the only other normal looking person there.

He was a handsome young man, with black hair and broad shoulders. Just as she was imagining how that tunic might look better on her bedroom floor-goddesses, she hated when men used that line on her, but it wasn't hypocritical to think it about them, right?-he'd seemed to feel her gaze on him and had turned to return the curiosity with a pair of blood red eyes.

So perhaps he wasn't as normal as she'd thought.

Though...he still looked damn good, especially with his tunic untied near the top and showing part of his well toned chest. Perhaps she could overlook those eyes...like she'd ever have a chance.

Even as she brushed it off, he smirked and gave her a wink before turning his attention back to watching the hags, who'd fallen into bickering over something. Brii hoped her cheeks hadn't flushed until after he'd turned away.

It would figure. Here she was, hoping to offer her services to the new king so that she wouldn't have to steal for her food, and she was going all googly-eyed for the competition.

Time ticked on. The water orb was called to present itself to the king and the hands took to harassing the little old ladies. As they took their duel to the courtyard, Brii followed after them, bored. Perhaps, if she could see their fighting techniques, she'd be able to know what strengths to point out that she had that they didn't.

As she leaned in the doorway, watching, she suddenly became aware that she was not alone in her endeavor. She glanced to the side and then quickly back to watch one of the hags fly through the air as she realized that Red Eyes was standing next to her. His arms were crossed across his chest and his biceps were gorgeous. Pronounced, but not overly so.

He was definitely a fine male specimen.

She frowned at her thoughts, mentally scolding herself for getting distracted again. As she stared intently at the hands which were already boring the hell out of her, she felt her personal space invade and glanced to see that her dream boy toy was leaning over her.

"Forgive me if this is none of my business," he began in a voice that made her melt inside and want to scream for him to take her, "but why exactly are you here?"

Brii's frown deepened and she looked at him, for once not distracted by his godly looks. "The recruitment letter."

As he arched a perfect eyebrow, she reached in her pocket and jerked out a well folded letter. It was worn along the creases and practically falling apart at a few points. She offered it to him and he took it, examining the lettering as though he recognized it.

Brii felt a knot forming in her stomach. "You look surprised."

"Our liege's recruitment was over a month ago."

"No," Brii hissed and tapped the letter. "See that date? It's today."

The man ran a hand over the lower half of his face. At first she thought he was lost in thought, though the sparkle in his eyes quickly revealed that he was trying to hide his amusement. "I see that, but I'm sorry to say it was an error on the writer's part."

Brii's eye twitched. "You'd better be lying."

When he didn't try to hide his amusement this time, she wanted to curl up in a ball and die. He was telling the truth, wasn't he? But then...why had they even let her into the castle? She considered the looks they had given her when she'd used her mock confidence to demand that she knew where she needed to be. The guards had merely shrugged and let her through...

Did they not think her a threat to their king?

Even as she'd considered that she never had any luck with most anything, she'd found the man was holding the note to her. She took it with less gusto than she'd given it. However, even as she floundered for what to do...maybe try to gain an audience with the king anyway? Surely he could always use another minion, right? She'd heard the Hero of Time had already freed one of the temples, so maybe if she offered to follow after him and sabotage what he'd managed to undo, she could still find an in...

The red-eyed man caught her attention by running his fingers through her hair and bringing a few locks to his lips. "Perhaps we can help one another..."

Present day...

"That's who you remind me of!"

Brii instantly slapped her hands over her mouth as she stared at Link. He gave her a curious gaze as he examined her map and then looked back at the alcove. It wasn't much, definitely not enough of a hole in the earthen wall that surrounded the kingdom and kept enemies from invading-and allies from helping during times of coups-to lose a cat in, but perhaps the creature was staying nearby? He'd been inspecting their surroundings, looking for any signs of small animals.

For just a moment, his expression had been serious and mature and he had reminded Brii of her dark lover/exploiter. While she wouldn't mind if they were lovers, she wasn't sure their relationship could really be counted as one, seeing as she'd really only slept with him for about a week while he worked on getting her in with the king. Then he'd had to head off to some temple and she was left missing some of the greatest sex she'd ever had. Not that she'd been with a lot of guys...she wasn't a slut.

However, now that she'd caught the hero's attention, any sense of stoic-ness had vanished and he was once again the innocent, curious-yet secretively plotting, she was sure-man that she'd spent the last few days traveling with.

He sighed and trotted over to her, holding the map for her to examine as well. "I don't think your cat was ever here."

"Well, that's one area checked off," Brii tried to sound enthusiastic. Since Navi's warning about not being able to use poison, Brii had been trying to consider what to do instead. Maybe the fairy was just screwing with her? Maybe they both were...

Link shrugged and motioned toward the next nearest place circled on the map. "Well, we can head there in the morning, if you want."

Brii stared at him. "You do realize that with every passing day Ganondorf gains power and it becomes more likely that you won't be able to vanquish him, right?"

"I really have no sense of direction without a map," Link shrugged.

"Did you ever consider just taking mine and promising to help me find my cat later?" Brii asked. While she didn't want to lose her shot at one hell of a payday, she couldn't help but feel that perhaps she should let this assignment slide. She could feel herself getting dumber, the longer she stayed around him.

"But...what if something happened to Mr. Pickles in the meantime?"

"What?"

"Mr. Pickles," Link repeated slowly, frowning. "You...that was the name you gave."

"Oh, right..." Brii rubbed her temples. "What matters more to you? The world? Or a cat?"

"Mr. Pickles is part of the world."

Brii blinked a few times before turning slowly and looking away. Link seemed disappointed by Brii's lack of gratitude in his dedication, though he merely sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Regardless of what we're planning, let's just camp here for the night, okay?"

"Sure, whatever," Brii muttered and dropped to sit on the ground. On the first night they'd camped together, she'd worried that he might try to get some, only to find that he was both an insomniac, and entirely void of any impure thoughts. Or so he acted. When she'd tried to hint that he'd better not try anything, he'd merely stared at her blankly. Trying to spell it out to make sure boundaries were clear had only resulted in a very confused Link asking her if she was talking about intercourse. She'd given up, told him no, and gone to sleep.

As he went about making a fire pit and then dismissed himself to go gather some wood from a few trees a few yards away, Brii had an idea. His fairy was following him and she figured this would be a good time as any to see if the little bugger was lying or not. She jerked a few bottles from her bags and slipped a transparent, tasteless poison into one. She pulled out a loaf of staling bread and broke it in half, setting the poisoned vial and one half on the side of the fire pit that she expected Link would sit at, positioning herself on the other side.

As he came back, he blinked and seemed touched that she had thought to give him some of her food. He smiled as he dropped the sticks into his makeshift pit and used one of those damned seeds to start the fire.

While Brii blinked away the light flash from her eyes, Link swallowed the water in nearly one gulp and then reached for the bread. However, as his fingers closed around the food, he froze. At first, Brii thought that perhaps the poison was taking effect.

However, instead of gripping his throat and gasping for breath as the concoction closed off his airways, his gaze turned dark and he threw the empty bottle at Navi. "You think you can kill me off that easy?"

Brii sat very still whilst the hero cursed at his fairy. His voice did sound a bit scratchier than usual, but that was it. Brii had to wonder why he was blaming the fairy when it was so clear that she was the one who had to have done it. She decided to bank on stupidity and went to take a swig from her own bottle. However, before the rim could reach her lips, she had a strong hand gripping her wrist.

Her eyes bugged out as Link took the bottle from her and tested some of her water before releasing her hand with a quick apology. He settled back to the ground beside her and shrugged awkwardly. "Navi...has a way of getting into things. It's lucky that you didn't get the poisoned bottle...though we should probably check the rest of your supplies."

"I'm sure the rest of it's fine," Brii tried to protest, though she had to grab her bag as Link picked it up anyway and tried to flip the top back. As Brii's hands clamped down on the top of it, he gave her a suspicious look and she felt her blood draining from her face. "My underwear's in there."

Really? First a cat, now unmentionables? She really needed to give up and find another profession.

Link dropped the bag faster than she'd previously seen him move and turned his gaze away, clearly embarrassed. Brii stared at him blankly. What was he, ten?

Link cracked his knuckles slowly and shifted further away from Brii before abruptly shrugging. "You should...probably get some rest, yeah?"

Sighing, Brii set her bag back on the ground beside her and nodded. "...I guess."

Link perked up, seeming to already had recovered from his perceived debauchery. "Alright. We'll figure out what to do about Mr. Pickles in the morning."

"Right..."


	4. Chapter 4

Brii stared down at the body at her feet, his blood still speckling her clothes and skin as her mind blanked. It couldn't register what had happened. This...there were no words to describe this.

"You can snap out of it any time, kid," Navi muttered, fluttering over and landing on Brii's head. The fairy took advantage of the young assassin's shock to adjust some of her strands of hair so as to make a more comfy resting spot. It wasn't until a few dozen hairs tickled her nose that Brii managed to snap out of her stupor and look around slowly, ignoring as Navi hissed for her to be still.

There was blood everywhere and in the distance she could hear someone screaming.

Brii twitched as she felt tiny feet stomping on her head to get her attention. While it barely even itched, Brii's eyes turned up instinctively, as though she might see the little ball of light resting in her hair. "Huh?"

"You might want to ditch the poisons while he's off killing those other guys."

Baulking, Brii hastily jerked her bag up into her arms, but paused before opening it to look around, frantically. When all she saw littering the grassy knoll were corpses, she darted over to the stream they'd been following, suddenly thanking the goddesses that her species needed to drink. If not for that, she'd probably have had to plant the damn things on one of the corpses and that might arouse his suspicions.

Dear Nayru, she had to act before he came back. Brii ignored Navi as she grumbled about why the assassin couldn't walk smoother as Brii dove toward the steam and started chucking her vials into it.

To hell with assassinations. To hell with recognitions. Her situation wasn't that bad, right? So she got a bit hungry from time to time. She could work around that. She'd sell herself on the streets before she'd try to take on that psychopath.

Worried that he might see the vials drifting down with the current—dammit, he was downstream from her, wasn't he?—she glanced around again and then dragged one of the bodies nearest her to the stream and threw open his satchel and made it look as though the contents had spilled into the water when he'd fallen.

Just as she was about to stand up, something about the dead man's face caught her attention and she paused, brushing back some of his matted hair to see his face better. While she couldn't say she knew him, she had seen him mulling about the capital, when she was on her way to meet with Ganondorf. He'd been sitting walking into a bar with a bunch of disreputable individuals. She paused to consider that those fellows were probably the others now littering the ground behind her.

Even as she tried to recall if she'd ever heard his name, she rose to her feet, turned around, and screamed.

Link stood behind her, eyebrow arched as he frowned. Her gaze flickered toward his sword hand and back to his face, not wanting him to think she was terrified to see he was still wielding the damn thing. His tunic was practically red with blood and it made the fabric stick to his skin.

"What were you doing?"

"W-what?" Brii squeaked, unable to hide the terror in her voice. Link nudged the corpse beside her with his foot, leaving a red smear on the man's pantleg. Dear Goddesses, why was there so much blood? For once, Brii didn't even try to come up with an excuse, she just let her mouth do what it did best. It had worked out so far, right? "O-oh...I was, um, checking." Link did not look amused. "To see...if he was still alive..."

"Why would you do that?" Link's frown deepened and she noticed him adjust his grip on his sword.

"I...I thought maybe we could ask him who sent him...?" Brii realized she was hugging herself as though to use her arms as shields against the hero's wrath. Like that had helped any of the others...

Link stared at her for a long, quiet moment before his gaze turned toward the man lying face down in the water. Brii had heard of cold looks before, but the hero's was downright frigid. He looked back at her. "Who other than Ganondorf would want me dead?"

Brii shrugged, rather helpless. "I...when I was a little girl, sometimes my father would take me to the capital when he went to sell his wares," she felt her fear slipping away, despite herself. This story was the first true thing she'd ever told him. "One time, I got lost. I ended up in the fancier part of town and heard some nobles talking...some of them...they'd do anything to gain political favor with whoever's in charge."

She loosened her grip on herself as she shrugged again. "I just thought...people like that are disloyal and you'd probably want to know who they are...so that they won't be there to support any other tyrants who might try to take over Hyrule."

Link blinked. Once. Twice. And then he abruptly relaxed and looked around, almost regretful, at the dozen corpses littering the countryside. "I hadn't thought of that."

However, even as he considered that he might have more enemies that he'd originally thought, a small gleam in the stream caught his eye and he stepped around Brii and over to the edge of the water. As he leaned down and reached his hand into the cool current to grip a small vial that had gotten stuck between two rocks, the blood on his skin slithered off in pale red streaks on the water's surface. He didn't seem to notice as he lifted the vial and inspected it.

"Poison?" He glanced down at the dead man again, frown returning tenfold. "I wonder why he didn't use any..."

Navi chuckled and Brii felt herself pale. Rather than try to interrogate either, Link merely clasped his hand around the poison and glanced around. "Where did I set my bags down?" Brii stood quiet and useless to one side as Navi flitted back into the air and wandered across the field to rest atop her charge's belongings. Link loped over and muttered a thank you as the fairy bitched that he should keep track of his own damn things. Rummaging through his bags carefully so as not to get blood on any of his food or supplies, he pulled out a rag and carefully wiped down his sword before finally sheathing it.

Brii sucked in a breath as Link looked her way and she realized she'd sighed in relief.

In all honesty, she'd never seen anything like what had just happened. She'd fought her share of swordsmen and guards, good and bad, but she'd never seen someone take on so many and walk away without so much as a scratch...and he'd been so efficient. There had been an eerie grace to his movements, as he'd dodged and parried and struck killing blow after killing blow...she might have appreciated it more if she hadn't been so terrified that he might turn his blade on her as well. She'd hate to see whoever had trained him, for surely they were as good, if not better than the agile young hero.

She snapped from her thoughts as she felt a hand on her chin tilting her face up and she paled another shade as her gaze rose to Link's. However, he was busy inspecting her.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Even as she managed a meek shake, he sighed and let her go. "We should get going. I'd like to have a few miles between this and us by nightfall." He turned to go, but paused when he noticed Brii was still planted by the stream. He looked her over again and his face softened. Before Brii could register what was happening, Link hugged her and stroked her hair. Their clothes made a dull squiking noise as the blood in the fabric was squeezed. "I'm sorry if I scared you." He stepped back, looking almost embarrassed. "I suppose a lady like yourself isn't used to such violence."

Brii doubted anyone was used to such violence. "Um..."

A soft cackling caught Link's attention and he frowned as Navi flitted back to rest on Brii's head. "You worry about traumatizing our poor, poor traveling companion after you've slaughtered so many people? Just think...these men probably had fucking families. There are wives and children waiting for Daddy to come back with that reward money so that they can afford to keep their home and now that will never happen."

Link's mouth formed a thin line. "These men were scum. If anyone was stupid enough to love them, then they deserve whatever fate they—"

"Don't," Brii spoke before she'd realized what she was doing. Why they hell couldn't she have one of those mental filters that kept her from talking when she shouldn't, like most people? When Link turned an irritated look toward her, though it was nothing compared to his earlier mood, she found herself less frightened than she had been, possibly the entire trip. "Nothing's so black and white. Yeah, maybe some of these guys were dogs, but some of them could have been blackmailed into coming after you. Maybe their families were being held hostage." She floundered for a moment as he stared at her, his expression unreadable. "I mean, everyone has their reasons, some bad, some not so much. You can't judge people when you don't know their stories."

Link stared at her in silence for a moment before finally reaching out and grabbing her by the wrist. Without a word, he led her through the carnage and back onto the trail, where they'd first been jumped.

Even Navi remained quiet as they traveled through the field toward the next marker on the map.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'd like to apologize for how long it took me to update this. The mother of all writer's block assaulted me and I couldn't think of what happened next. However, I finally figured out how the story ends. A bit off topic, but I actually had to write this chapter backwards to get the order of events right.

My endings aren't usually very happy, but I hope you'll find this one worth the ridiculously long wait.

...-...

Brii breathed through her teeth slowly. This was all her fault.

They'd been attacked. Again. _That_ part wasn't really her fault, per se, but rather what had happened next had been.

They'd been walking at a brisker pace than usual, thanks to Navi's incessant ramblings that she'd like to have her community service finished sooner than later. The pesky little creature was flying ahead of them, talking about her gang and how the Heals Denied were some of the most bad ass fairies in existence-when they weren't caught defacing the fairy kingdom and forced to help the mortal world-when an arrow had shot through the air out of nowhere and clipped one of her wings.

Brii had thought Navi's cursing had been excessive before. When that little light ball was hurt though, she brought vulgarity to whole new levels. While Brii had darted forward to see if the dastardly little creature were in need of assistance, Link had taken the excessive flow of words from its mouth as a sign that she would be just fine and had instead turned his attention toward their attacker, just barely pocketing those goddessdamned deku seeds and swinging his shield in front of him in time to block another arrow.

Forgetting about Navi, Brii had shifted into a defensive position, though she doubted she really needed it. Link was damned efficient when it came to taking out adversaries. However, as Brii looked to assess their newest attacker, her eyes widened. She didn't even hear as steel clanged together. She was too dumbstruck.

It was that red-eyed devil from the castle. Seriously, nothing looking that perfect could be good. The man jumped backward, unlocking his blade from Link's and flashed a quick look toward Brii.

She hoped Link hadn't seen. And not because she worried he might realize she was an assassin. Since that day in the field littered with bodies, Link had been more...thoughtful. She couldn't say he was more mature, seeing as he still played with his damn weapons and was constantly asking her about that damnable non-existent pet, but...he'd smiled at her more, when he thought she wasn't looking.

And she'd been doing the same.

She was pretty sure that was why Navi had started talking about home. It had been a desperate attempt for the fairy to fill her little head with thoughts other than the two who looked ready to jump each other.

The man-how had she spent a week with him and never managed to get his name?-frowned slightly as Brii made no attempt to sneak up behind Link while he was distracted and finish him off.

He certainly wouldn't have expected that.

In that moment, Link had caught that his enemy's guard was down and had launched forward into an attack. However, instead of going for the kill, Link merely disarmed the man, sending his sword clattering against the stones in the grass as he brought his own blade under his enemy's chin.

Brii had felt like the world was moving in slow motion. She couldn't believe it. Their attacker was down. A single blow and he'd never bother Link-or Brii-again. And Link sheathed his sword. He held his hand out toward his enemy and offered him a simple warning. "I don't know why you fight against me, but leave your blade and I'll let you go."

The red-eyed shadow of Link nodded his head slowly, looking to the ground. Link glanced toward Brii, as though he wondered if she approved of his mercy after the way she'd chastised him before for cursing his attackers. However, Brii barely registered that.

The dark man had been one of Ganondorf's generals, not some meek bandit looking to score a meal. She caught his smirk as Link took a step away from him and she flung herself forward, shoulder first into Link. As he stumbled to the side, Brii let out a quick gasp, the man's blade slicing into her side.

She was too busy collapsing into the grass to see what happened next, though when she looked up she found that Link had drawn his weapon again and was pulling it out of the red-eyed man's chest.

Her dark would-be-lover watched her, his red eyes dimming as his fingers weakly clutched his shirt over his wound. His gaze flitted between her and Link as he knelt beside her with a fairy. "A pity...after everything you chose him?"

Brii felt cold. Like his words had been a curse, breaking her fairytale travels. She hadn't realized that she'd thought of the last few days with Link as some of the best times of her life-aside from that whole massacre thing-until she saw Link's brow furrow in response to those words. He seemed to forget about his shadow as the man fell to the ground, dead.

It seemed so unbearably cruel. Realizing that he'd been beaten, her red-eyed boy toy had used the last weapon available to him, his words, to try to take her down with him. Brii silently cursed herself for ever having bedded the bastard.

"What did he mean?"

As Brii looked up at Link, she saw his face was serious. She tried to shrug it off, but his expression didn't change. Time for dodging questions and making up stories was over.

This couldn't be happening. Not now. She'd find a way to convince him not to look for her cat anymore. She'd get him to go to the temples. They'd save the world. There had to be something she could say. Something that could undo the events that had just played out before her.

There was nothing. Nothing she could say, nothing she could do. Even as she struggled to think, her mind came up blank and the realization that she was caught in her lie finally took hold.

"Don't you get it?" She wanted to cry. She wanted him to stop watching her with those gorgeous blue eyes. "There is no cat!"

That was it. It was over. Whatever _it_ had been. The lie was gone and with it, the only real reason for him to stay with her or for her to stay with him. But she couldn't let that be it.

"I was sent out to kill you! The poisons were mine! I tried to kill you! It was all-" a hiccupped sob interrupted her confession and she crumpled to the ground, balling her fists and shoving them into her eyes as though that might somehow stem the tears. "It was me. I'm not your friend. I'm not anything to you...I'm...I'm as much a monster as the rest of those things working for Ganondorf!"

Her throat was too tight for her to form any more words and she sat there in on the ground, waiting. For harsh words, the blade of a sword, anything. Nothing met her expectations. A lapse in response.

Was she really nothing to him? She felt herself crying harder and finally gave up fighting it and let her tears fall freely, until her eyes were red and puffy and she was certain that she'd never be able to get the rivulets along her face to wash off.

She'd confessed everything to him and it hadn't even warranted a response. How could he be so callous? Had he realized the fool he'd been and chosen to leave her there, not wanting to waste any more of his precious time?

Just as she was about ready to curse his name, his naivety, and his soulful eyes, she felt lips press against her forehead.

As she blinked through her tears, she realized that he hadn't gone anywhere. Merely, he had let her cry as she'd needed to. He leaned his forehead lightly against hers, his eyes closed as a half smile played on his features. "Are you done?"

Brii stared at him, her eyes as wide as they could be, considering that tears still burned them. "W-what?"

Link leaned back, catching one of her hands with his. "I think we should try to get to town by nightfall." He blinked as her expression mirrored her confusion and he broke out into a full grin. "Come on. You didn't really think that I bought that cat story, did you?"

"I-no," Brii answered too quickly, suddenly feeling indignant. All this time and...she was the fool?

Link rose to his feet and dusted his tunic off before offering her his hand. "It occurred to me that I see the world in black and white, whereas you see all those pesky grays that keep me from being able to catch on to when I should be merciful or merciless. I think having someone with your skills at my side would be somewhat of an asset."

Brii debated batting his hand away, but took it in the end. "Most everyone sees the world in grays, you know. It's nothing special." She noticed his expression fall slightly and she shrugged her shoulders, hugging herself. "But I guess I can stick around and help you out. Since you need it." She hesitated. "And as I recall, you do need a map."

Link's grin returned full force as they gathered their things and began to walk back to where Navi was still cursing her makers and all forms of law enforcement. As they strode over the grasses, a soft chuckle escaped his lips. Brii looked at him, at first thinking that he was laughing at something Navi had said. However, he was watching her and as she tilted her head, questioningly, he simply shook his.

"You know, when this is all over, I'm getting you a cat."


End file.
